It’s All About People

If you’re a CEO of a large company, would you move your headquarters to a city with a 2.9 percent unemployment rate? Probably not. You would need educated workers to make your business run.

But if you’re an ambitious recent college graduate, would you move to a city without big name employers? Probably not.

Which begs the question: is it the jobs or the people who come first?

We believe it’s the people. Simply put, we need more people to move to Omaha.

If you currently live in Omaha, this should not be a controversial statement. We need more people paying taxes so we don’t have to live with things like budget cuts related to our children’s education. More people attracts more amenities and entertainment options. More people adds to our tax revenue to pay for things like street repairs, too.

And more people would allow even more jobs to move into the area.

So what attracts more people? 

According to the American Institute for Economic Research, “70 percent of young college graduates decide where to locate based on quality-of-life factors such as a robust restaurant scene and good mass transit.”

The streetcar, in addition to attracting Millennials and Generation Y – the largest percentage of the American workforce – can also serve as a different catalyst for growth. It will help turn parking lots into residences, businesses and entertainment destinations. It will mean developments in planning stages could be upgraded to be bigger and better.

The streetcar is an important part of our city’s master public transportation vision, and it’s crucial to the growth and vibrancy of our urban core.

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